SoCCAM

SoCCAM – Friday, April 18, 2025

The Lowe Institute of Political Economy at Claremont McKenna College invites economists to attend the 14th Annual Southern California Conference in Applied Microeconomics (SoCCAM) on Friday, April 18, 2025. This year, all sessions will be back in Freeberg Forum at Claremont McKenna College. The keynote address will be held on at CMC's Athenaeum. 


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Program 

8:00–8:30am Registration and breakfast

8:30-9:50am    Session I:  Labor policies & employment effects

Chair: Kevin Shih (UCR)

PaperPresenterDiscussant
Does regional variation in wage levels identify the effects of a national minimum wage?Daniel HaanwinckelTBD
Hiring subsidies for the disadvantaged: Evidence from the work opportunity tax creditManisha Jain, Corina Mommaerts, Jeffrey WeaverTBD
9:50 – 10:00am Break and refreshments

10:00 – 11:20 am     Session II: Market competition & regulation                           

Chair: Justin Marion (UCSC)

PaperPresenterDiscussant
Competing under information heterogeneity: Evidence from auto insuranceMarco Cosconati, Yi Xin, Fan Wu, Yizhou JinTBD
Advertising-funded attention markets and antitrust: Evidence from the YouTube platformH. Tai LamTBD
11:20 – 11:30 pm     Walk to Athenaeum at CMC                         
11:30 – 1:00 pm Lunch and Keynote – Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum, CMC

How Real is Hypothetical? And Other High Incentives Observations

Uri Gneezy
Professor at the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego

 

1:00-1:20pm         Walk to Freeberg Forum in Kravis Center at CMC

1:20 – 2:40 pm      Session III: Institutional corruption & state capacity                         

Chair:  Emily Owens (UCI)

PaperPresenterDiscussant
The imperfect union: Labor racketeering, corruption exposure, and its consequencesMiriam VenturiniTBD
Can automation overcome low state capacity?Bhanu Gupta, Tejaswi Velayudhan, Vedant VohraTBD
2:40-2:50 pm Short break and refreshments   

2:50-4:10pm       Session IV:  Decision-making & strategic behavior                         

Chair: Alex Wellsjo (UCSD)

PaperPresenterDiscussant
How do business owners run governments? Evidence from Brazilian municipalitiesSocorro Pardo MartinezTBD
The 2-meter stride: A natural experiment measuring peer influence on system gamingJiatong Han, Xiaozhi Yang, Yubai Yuan, Fadong Chen, Colin F. CamererTBD
4:10-4:20 pm Short break and refreshments

4:20-5:40 pm    Session V:  Public health policies & responses

Chair:  Heather Royer (UCSB)

PaperPresenterDiscussant
Family planning, now and later: Infertility fears and contraceptive take-upNatalie Bau, David Henning, Corinne Low, Bryce Millett SteinbergTBD
Alcohol in the family: How an anti-alcohol campaign transformed health, marriage & childbearingElizabeth Brainerd, Olga MalkovaTBD
6:00-8:00 pm Dinner – Location TBD

 

Call for Proposals
The Lowe Institute of Political Economy at Claremont McKenna College invites paper submissions for the 14th Annual Southern California Conference in Applied Microeconomics (SoCCAM) to be held at the Claremont Colleges on Friday, April 18, 2025. The keynote address will be given by Uri Gneezy, a prominent behavioral economist and professor at the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). We encourage paper submissions in all areas of applied microeconomics including (but not limited to) development, environmental, experimental, health, industrial organization, labor, law, population, public, trade, and urban economics. We invite submissions from faculty and graduate students from all colleges and universities in California. 2025 Call for Proposals [pdf]

Submission
The deadline for paper submissions is extended to Friday, February 7, 2025.  The SoCCAM Organizing Committee will select the papers to be presented at the conference.  Please submit a paper or extended abstract here:  https://forms.gle/qCU1HG4m9Y7AoBT1A

Travel Honorarium
All presenters and discussants are offered a $300 honorarium to cover travel expenses and accommodations in the room block.  Rooms are limited please inquire with Kelly Alexander to reserve a room. To receive the honorarium, please submit this form to Kelly Alexander at the Lowe Institute by April 30, 2025.


SoCCAM 2025 Organizing Committee:

Justin Marion, UC Santa Cruz
Heather Royer, UC Santa Barbara
Alex Wellsjo, UC San Diego
Kevin Shih, UC Riverside
Emily Owens, UC Irvine
Laura Grant, CMC (Chair)


2024 SoCCAM Program


Details for Attending SoCCAM

Lodging

Casa 425 – Claremont
425 W. 1st St., Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 624-2272
Presenters and discussants, please inquire with Kelly Alexander at the Lowe Institute about a room block.

DoubleTree – Claremont
555 W. Foothill Blvd, Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 626-2411
 

Parking

Parking instructions TBD.


Additional Resources